Boys support boys
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: A few years after Endgame Peter and Ned get a fun surprise, brand new roommates in the form of superhero duo, Nightcrawler and Beast Boy. Determined to help each other and survive adulthood, things are going to get crazy. Not a direct rip off of my story Roommates I promise.
1. Couch crashers

**Ree Ree, what are you doing? You remember the last time you tried for an attention-grabbing story in the same vein as another one of your stories! You got one comment! But lo, I am not writing this story as an attention grabber, Roommates only had 16 reviews! I'm writing it because it seemed really fun to have Kurt (Nightcrawler), Peter (Spiderman), Ned (Ned), and Gar (Beast Boy) in the same apartment. I started this thinking I was going to jump into a really fun lighthearted story, and then I hit this part of writing about adulthood where I knew I had to also deal with some things. So our little group of 20-somethings and an obscene amount of pop culture references are in for a wild ride. I hope you enjoy, but this one is for me.**

**Not really any spoilers for Far From Home yet, but there will be later, probably? I do have to deal with Endgame in this story eventually.**

* * *

Chapter 1- Peter

Peter smoothed back his hair and tried to psych himself up for a job interview. This probably wasn't the most important day of his life because maybe one day he would get married and have kids but this felt pretty important right now. He needed cash. He needed to survive. Spiderman didn't pay the bills, so it was time for a day job. Well, a part-time job in between classes and Spiderman. Or a summer job for now.

"I'm going out!" He yelled to Ned, his roommate and best friend, who had more than figured out how a job works and was living his dream at a start-up tech company. Peter couldn't help being jealous, Ned knew what he wanted to do and where he fits in. Peter didn't even know if he could nail this interview. Right now… Right now it didn't seem likely. He didn't think he could do anything in this state of panic.

"Good luck on your interview, you'll do great!" Ned always had more faith in him than he did.

"I need a second opinion," Peter laughed tiredly, opening the door and nearly running into a classmate of his.

"Hey, I really quickly need a place to crash-" Gar Logan said, looking sheepish.

"Go, talk to Ned, I have got to go do a job interview."

"Oh, good luck! I'm sure you'll do good." There was that second opinion, but he still felt unsure as he hurried to it.

All the more unsure as he left the interview. He had been told to come back in two days for a second interview, and so he was all the more anxious and tired. He forgot about Gar crashing on the couch, the only thing he could think about was grabbing food with Ned and trying to distract himself from his stress. If this job wanted him, say so, if they didn't, say so. He couldn't handle lying awake and wondering.

Then he unlocked the door to his apartment and stopped in his tracks.

"Peter, what's going on?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Gar Logan didn't look like he had when he had arrived, his skin and hair were different shades of green, like broccoli. And next to him was a furry. Well, he looked like a furry, at first, but then Peter realized that it was actually a blue-furred mutant with a tail. Maybe they both were mutants. Maybe they were both furries.

"Hey…" Gar mumbled, "I'm sorry about all of this, let me try to explain. I'm not a mutant, Kurt is, we've been living in a van because… Well, there's a reason! Kurt, the reason?" The furry, er, Kurt, cleared his throat.

"It is a little bit difficult to find an apartment when you look like this," Kurt said, flashing a charming smile that made it hard for Peter to believe that anything was difficult for him.

"But Gar, I've seen you, you don't normally look like this…" Peter stammered.

"Well no, I normally do look like this, and sometimes I look like this." Gar's appearance changed into the Gar that Peter was familiar with. Peter didn't even question it at this point.

"How'd you find my house?" Peter blurted.

"Study group."

"That was a mistake, I didn't even pass that test…"

"That's because you fell asleep," Ned reminded.

"Not helping, Ned. And Kurt, why are you here?"

"I live in a van with him," Kurt pointed out.

"But why?" Peter was so tired and so hungry.

"Because we're best friends!" Kurt said proudly. Gar rolled his eyes, clearly disagreeing.

"Because we're superheroes, and neither of us is used to a solo act." Kurt didn't seem to mind that Gar had just rejected him as a best friend.

"Why would you just announce that you're superheroes?" Peter asked, exasperated and exhausted.

"Because we look like this, how are we supposed to lie?"

"But you don't have to look like this!"

"Peter, eat a Snickers, you're not you when you're hungry," Ned jokes.

"Oh my goodness I can't do this right now… Go back to your van, I'm getting dinner." Peter turned away, grabbing his house keys.

"I thought you would understand being different," Gar said, standing up to follow him.

"Why would I understand that?" Peter asked voice wavering, looking down.

"You're Spiderman." Peter turned around and shot a web, knocking Gar back and trapping him on the couch. He'd tried so hard to hide this, to cover his tracks, to keep his identity a rumor.

"Hey!" Kurt protested, pulling at the webbing.

"How do you know that?"

"Because we've seen you save the day when we were out trying to do the same. We've been doing this for a while too. We're professionals."

"Professionals who live in a van, who still live in a van, because you're not staying here! I can't deal with this today I am so tired and the job interview was so vague and I'm failing as an adult…" Before he knew it, Peter was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands.

"Hey, buddy, we're getting you some food. I'm ordering a couple of pizzas. And then we can talk about how we're not going to make these guys go back to living in a van"

"Okay…" Peter took a few deep breaths and noticed Kurt flip a switch to look normal, probably to help calm Peter down. Aside from toning down the x-gene, the two guests didn't do anything, just sat quietly while Ned tried to help Peter out. They seemed like the type of guys who didn't sit quietly often, so it was a nice gesture.

After forty minutes they had all calmed down and were eating their pizza. Gar ate cheese pizza alone but the rest of them ate pepperoni.

"Are you vegetarian?" Peter asked, making small talk to distract himself from his looming anxiety.

"Yeah," Gar said, running a hand through his hair.

"Did I hurt you, when I hit you with the web shooter?" Peter asked, shaking a little. He hadn't meant to snap. He was stronger than this… He had to get this under control.

"A little bit, but it's okay. I can take a punch." Gar pretended to flex, hoping to make Peter laugh. It worked on his one-year-old niece, Cyborg's adopted daughter, maybe it would work on this superhero.

It didn't work. Peter just looked at him like he was crazy. To be fair, that was another thing his one-year-old niece did. She was a hoot.

"We can pay rent," Kurt said suddenly, not wanting to be rude to the people who fed them, but wanting to get things in order before it got super late. He really didn't want to spend another night in the van, although they'd been able to sleep four people at one time. They could probably sleep at least two more people. Kurt shuddered at the prospect.

Suddenly all eyes were on the furry elf.

"He's right, we'd be happy to contribute to rent and utilities in any way necessary. We can even pay for our part of the pizza."

"You two have jobs?" Peter didn't mean to sound snarky and mean. He was mostly just disheartened. It seemed like everyone had their life in order but him.

"Several," Kurt said proudly.

"Yep." Gar nodded.

"Oh, well. If you pay rent, that could work. Ned, what do you think?"

"Well, we can't just kick them out. Let's divide up rent and see if this works… We only have one bathroom so that's kinda hard, but I think we can do it, especially if we start sleeping two to a room."

"Oh, the couch is fine," Kurt said.

"But there are two of you."

"Yeah, but I can shapeshift and take up significantly less space," Gar said, turning into a Goldendoodle right in front of their eyes.

"That's convenient, but I'm sure we could get you guys into an actual room. Buy some cheap sofa beds or futons or whatever and bam. It'll give us a chance to redecorate!" Ned seemed more pumped than Peter was. Because Ned's life was figured out or whatever.

"Okay, tonight, couch, tomorrow we'll go furniture shopping. I'm exhausted so I'm going to hit the hay."

"Good night Peter, thanks for giving us a chance!" Gar said gratefully. Peter just nodded.

"Ned you have work tomorrow so don't stay up too late," Peter reminded before slipping away and collapsing on the bed, head pounding. Today was really something. He had no idea how they were going to pull this off.


	2. Thrifting

**I really want to do more with this story than I did with Roommates, specifically give more characters more time in the limelight, thus the switching between perspectives.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2- Gar

"He's really something special," Gar commented, watching the door shut and then putting a hand on his chest where he'd been hit with the webbing. It felt like it was going to bruise.

"I'm sorry if he was a little rude, Peter's been having a really tough time lately. It's not his fault," Ned apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not upset with him. Everyone has their rough patches."

"Glad you understand. Anyway, he was right about work in the morning, so I should go to bed as well. G'night."

"Night."

"Think this is the place?" Kurt asked, laying back on the couch as Gar dropped to the floor.

"I hope so. We can't keep living in that van like we're nothing. Plus, we have a good chance to help Peter."

"Yeah, you think so? That'd be fun. I hadn't met him before but he seems like he could use some excitement." Gar laughed at his friend's suggestion, not sure excitement was the best thing for the frazzled hero.

"Couldn't hurt to try. He really is a nice guy, he just might not have seemed like it tonight."

"I trust your judgment, man," Kurt promised, yawning.

"Night, dude!" Gar transformed into a tortoiseshell cat and fell asleep, Kurt idly rubbing his back and dozing off as well.

When Kurt inevitably woke up early and started brewing a pot of coffee, Gar hopped up to the couch and turned back into himself, snuggling up in the still warm cushions and snatching a few more minutes of shuteye.

Then the illusion of sleep was ruined and he was dragged out of bed.

"I don't know how you're mentally awake right now," Gar glowered at Kurt. Kurt just laughed and pressed a mug of coffee into Gar's hands.

"Sorry I used your coffee, I'll buy the next bag," Kurt promised to their new roommates.

"It's nice to have a pot to ourselves, instead of buying whatever is cheap and already made."

"Can I use your shower?" Gar asked.

"You live here now," Peter pointed out tiredly, Kurt poured the Spiderman a cup of joe, and Gar lit up a little at the fact that he had a consistent place to shower now. Maybe being awake wasn't so bad.

His green skin was purple where the web shooter had hit, but the cool water he turned on felt so good he didn't care. He'd started taking cold showers for several reasons, it saved money, woke him up in the mornings, and had been all that was left when he slept in as a Titan. He lingered a little longer under the water getting clean, then toweled off and got dressed.

"Did you use up the hot water?" Ned asked, slipping past Gar.

"No, I take cold showers."

"You are weirder than I expected." Gar laughed.

"Yes, I am."

"Good, normal is overrated." Gar knew that guys who said that normal is overrated were bullied in high school, but he had been as well, so he didn't mention his observation. Instead, he went to see if there was any more coffee. It felt so good to have a home.

"Okay, our job is to move Ned's stuff into my room. Then we hit up goodwill, thrift stores, Walmart. We'll get you two taken care of, but we're going to need that van of yours." Peter seemed a lot more together when he had a plan.

Kurt and Gar exchanged a look, "Yeah, we can use the van, let me just go check on it," Kurt said, disappearing from the living room. Peter stared at Gar, seeming tired and confused.

"Yeah, he can do that." Gar shrugged a little.

"Okay wow. So I'm assuming Kurt was an X-man, what about you?"

"Titan. And you're an Avenger, aren't you?"

"Yep." Peter smiled a little, and then Kurt reappeared in front of them.

"We can use the van."

"Isn't it your van?" Peter questioned.

"Yeah, but we kind of share it with other people," Kurt explained.

"But they're moving out," he added.

"Okay, whatever you say." Ned left the bathroom, headed for work.

"Eat something," Peter yelled after him.

"You two really take care of each other," Gar noted with a smile, remembering being the youngest on the team and being parented by the other Titans every now and then.

"Ned's like a brother to me, so we keep each other in line. You two are probably the same way."

"Oh no, we don't care about each other at all," Gar jokes.

"Yeah, we just live in a van and fight crime together. It's a purely business relationship," Kurt added with a laugh.

"Let's just move some furniture." Maybe it was too early in the morning for sarcasm.

After a few hours of moving furniture and belongings, stuffing Peter's room full to bursting, they went out on their shopping excursion.

"You'll need Marie Kondo to organize that room," Gar mentioned.

"I'll make Ned hold his things and see if they bring him joy," Peter promised with a chuckle.

"Maybe we could get Mr. Kate to design our new room," Kurt added.

"Who's Mr. Kate?" Peter asked. Gar and Kurt stared at him in disbelief.

"Only the best redecorating channel on YouTube."

"Sorry, I don't watch that kind of thing."

"What do you watch?" Peter hesitated for a moment.

"Lately, nothing. I've been super busy.

"We're going to find you something to binge," Gar promised.

"Great, that's exactly what I need, more distractions."

"Distractions are fun," Kurt said as they reached the van, "you can have shotgun, I'll drive." Gar opened the door and saw their van roommate asleep in the back.

"Kurt, you said we were good to use this."

"He said he was leaving!" Kurt protested.

"Todd, get out, we need the van." Gar vaguely threatened the mutant. Todd leapt up, glowering, and hopped out of the van, clearly displeased with Gar and Kurt.

"I'm not even going to ask," Peter mumbled.

"That's probably for the best."

The hit up the nearest goodwill first, plunging straight into the furniture section. Well, Peter plunged straight into the furniture section, because Peter was on a mission, but Kurt and Gar felt no sense of urgency and looked for decorations for their new room.

"Dude we have to get this," Gar snickered, holding up a framed Spiderman poster.

"It's perfect! And I'm thinking throw pillows everywhere." Kurt suggested.

"Genius," Gar applauded.

"Guys I found a futon," Peter called, and they walked over with their armful of decorations. Peter looked pleased with his discovery of a flower-print futon, but his pleased look turned to horror when he saw all the extras his new roommates were toting.

"Please don't buy the Spiderman poster."

"We have to, we could get it signed, we know the guy."

"Gar, Kurt, please? We can't get all of this junk anyway." Kurt and Gar dejectedly started putting the pillows back, Gar turning to Peter.

"Look, Peter, we really appreciate you accepting us into your home and helping us, but we're kind of going from having nothing to having a place… I'm sorry if we're acting like goofballs, it's just nice to have something," Gar confessed. Peter hesitated.

"This is just the first store, so try not to go overboard with the decorations," Peter suggested. Gar grinned and turned back to Kurt.

"We have this floral futon, that's what we're designing around, so we have to be responsible with our choices," Gar said. This room was a challenge, a possibility. The two of them were giddy about the prospect. And, they definitely got the Spiderman poster.

"We're unframing this and it's going on the ceiling," Gar said with a grin. Peter stared at him and then smirked.

"Two can play at that game," he threatened jovially.

"I look forward to your revenge." They headed to the next thrift store after loading the futon and extras into the van. With most of the seats down, they had room for another couch bed hybrid or something. Something like Peter's brilliant suggestion, when they reached the next store.

"I found you a bed, Gar," Peter smirked, throwing a dog bed at him.

"Perfect, let's get it," Gar said, completely serious, not taking Peter's bait. That did it, that cracked Peter, soon he was laughing, leaning against a bookshelf full of Twilight for a quarter, which Kurt was flipping through. They did end up getting the dog bed, the first Twilight book, and a small couch. It wasn't a couch bed, but Gar insisted it was sufficient.

"On to Walmart for some bedding and other homey stuff," Gar liked that word, homey, and how Peter said it, emphasizing that they were coming home. Gar hadn't let on how excited he was to get homey stuff since his first aside with Peter, but he was thrilled. He didn't mind sharing a space with Kurt because it finally felt like he had a space. He wasn't going to spend another night in the back of the van, rushing to college early to use the gym showers, or get with one of his friends in a dorm just so he could get clean before class. Those days were over! He had a space now. He had a home and little family that was growing.

Soon, Walmart was raided for the finishing touches on their new room, and they headed back to the apartment to unload and redecorate, each one in a better mood than they had begun with, even Kurt, who had been a morning person from the start.


	3. Mr Leeds

**Not really a Far From Home spoiler? I do have to straight up admit that I'm bullcrapping how old Spiderman is though, as well as when events of Infinity War happened. He was 16 almost 17 in the newest movie so I'm saying that _this _story is set three years after Endgame, in the summer. So I guess my characters are almost 21 (Except for Kurt who is 24)... Actually, by my own writing, Gar should be 21 already... Do I have to write them drinking? I don't want to... **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3- Ned

Ned left the boys knowing that they could take care of the housing situation. He was happy to open his home to the super duo. He knew Peter was anxious about it, but maybe new perspectives were exactly what Peter needed. Peter was so stressed right now, and Ned was really worried about him. If inviting more people into their lives was going to help Peter learn to take a breath and trust that things would be okay, then Ned would jump on that opportunity. But right now he had to work.

So he got to work, flipped on his favorite podcast, and started in on his project. He was one of several people working on developing an AI personality to rival the inaccessible works of Tony Stark. Well, inaccessible to everyone but Peter, Pepper, and 8-year-old Morgan. Everyone else had to sculpt their own AI. Sometimes he worked with the big group, other days he had tiny details to tackle and his partners were Gus Johnson and Eddy Burback, cracking jokes about fighting fourth graders and hating audio listeners and people from Ohio. Sometimes he turned on Welcome to Nightvale to properly freak him out while he was working, other times his attention was captured by musicals because The Squip Song made him feel really cool while he was working on AI. It honestly felt like he was right where he was supposed to be, working on what he was supposed to work on.

He wished Peter could see that. That it wasn't really about how much you earned, more about being passionate about what you do. And Peter was passionate as Spiderman. Ned wanted to grab Peter by the shoulders and shake him a little, force him to see what was right in front of him. That he could have any dead-end job in the world and still be happy if he wanted to be happy. Maybe Peter just forgot how to be happy, forgot how to find joy in simple things. Maybe that's what you get when your mentor was, for much of his life, obsessed with money and success. Maybe Peter was stuck in the mindset where he wasn't successful yet. Wasn't happy yet. Gar and Kurt, they seemed to be oozing happiness despite their crappy circumstances. Maybe that would rub off on Peter.

Ned was only pulled out of his zone when a coworker tapped him on the arm.

"Mr. Leeds? I was wondering how your process was coming." Tucker Vance was a notorious slacker who relied on other people to get his work done. Ned had come close to snitching at least 10 times, but he liked his job and didn't mind doing more of it, plus Tucker was the only person ever who called him Mr. Leeds and it made him feel more adult than he actually was.

"It's going great. I'm going to take home what I'm working on, do you need anything done?" Tucker looked relieved at the offer.

"Yes! I'll email you what I'm a little behind on, can I buy your lunch?"

"Absolutely you can, here's my lunch order." Because Ned knew Tucker very well by now, he had taken to writing down how Tucker would "repay" him on little Star Wars themed post-it notes. He pulled off a Deathstar with a sandwich request and handed it to Tucker.

"Thank you, Mr. Leeds." He was pretty sure Tucker was his age, or maybe a year younger, and there was a 99% chance there was a good bit of nepotism that had gotten Tucker his position. Maybe he shouldn't do parts of Tucker's work, but it was fulfilling and it got him free sandwiches.

Now, back to his regularly scheduled program. A little bit of Gus, a little bit of Eddy, and a lot of focused work, without nepotism Tucker or the big bosses or anyone else interrupting and distracting from his process. A few more hours and he could happily take home a USB and do more work. He heard people around the office say that he was like a machine, that he didn't have fun. Tucker never said any of that, Tucker wouldn't dare, but the people who didn't regularly add to his workload said whatever they wanted about him. And Ned didn't really care. He knew that he went home and got to hang out and have fun with his best friend, and he also knew that work was really fun for him. So let his coworkers joke however they wanted, calling him a robot, or more recently, the Tin Man to Tucker's Scarecrow. People in high school had said stupid crap like that and back then it had hurt, even though he had tried hard not to show it. It had always hurt more when they'd gone after Peter. It had made him angry, it still did sometimes. But it no longer mattered what people said about him.

At the end of a long and productive day, Ned packed up, threw away his sandwich wrapper, and headed home. The thought of his extra roommates made him smile. He was excited to see what the apartment looked like now. Maybe Kurt and Gar had a flair for design, or maybe it would be as tasteful as the fuzzy dice Ned had seen hanging in their van. Either way, it was bound to be interesting.

The boys were all collapsed on the living room couch, looking tired after a long day of moving things in and out.

"How'd it go?" Ned asked cheerfully, possibly alerting them for the first time that he was home since they seemed pretty out of it.

"Good," Peter gave him a tired thumbs up.

"Well, Kurt, Gar, are you going to show me your new room?" Kurt jumped up with unfathomable energy, even Ned, who had sat all day, couldn't imagine how that guy didn't seem tired.

"Right this way good sir." Ned had to laugh. Sir was almost as good as Mr. Leeds. He dug around in his pocket, dropped the USB containing his project on the "dining room" table, and followed Kurt and a sluggish Gar into their new bedroom.


	4. Redecorating

**Did I write this story just so I could make my favorite superheroes reference all the pop culture things I like? Yes. Yes, I did. The name Boys Support Boys is a line I borrowed from the Gus and Eddy Podcast, my favorite podcast. Comment if you would like me to go through my top five podcasts. Or comment anything or nothing. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 4- Kurt

Just having a bed had made this a passion project for Kurt. The floral pattern on the futon could not look any better, he'd already secretly kissed it three times. They'd wanted to proceed tastefully from there, so the room boasted the pillows they'd bought to match, and the blanket set they'd found after the pillows, which mostly matched. Then there was Gar's couch, which warranted more pillows, and tucked under the legs of the couch was the dog bed. The color scheme was mostly blue and purple, taking cues from the couch they'd found which was a dark blue, and the futon which was covered in purple flowers. Right now there were several empty frames leaning against the wall next to a window and the crate they'd gotten to keep their shared book collection, which right now consisted only of Kurt's new copy of Twilight and Gar's rented textbooks.

"We'll get more books," he promised. The frames were another thing he'd insisted on since he knew from the Mr. Kate videos he watched that walls were meant to be utilized. Also, rugs and cuddling on the rugs had to happen but they weren't there yet. He was going to print pictures and quotes for the frames, maybe hang them up asymmetrically. Maybe paint the frames to match the color scheme. Find a rug, preferably shag, in a ridiculous shade of purple. It would look terrible, but Kurt wanted it more than anything.

"You like it?" He asked Ned for the third time.

"Yes, I like it, you guys did a good job."

"It was fun." He'd heard what Gar had said as an aside to Peter, how they just wanted to have fun now that they were owning things again. It was true that what they kept in the little closet to the side, and their meager show of books and everything else in the room that hadn't been bought today added up to very little. That was just what happened when you lived in a van. But now they had a second chance as adults, to have a space and things. And he was perfectly happy. Well, he would be, once he got that rug.

Gar flopped back onto the couch with a satisfied grunt and closed his eyes.

"This is my bed and so I'm going to sleep don't wake me up for food, I'll be fine." Peter and Ned exchanged a look and Kurt calmly ushered them out of the bedroom.

"He'll be fine," Kurt assured them with a smile as he closed the door. It wouldn't be the first time Gar was skipping on food, another side effect of the van life.

"Yeah, okay. We should come up with some rules, though, for the apartment," Peter suggested.

"We can just amend the existing roommate agreement," Ned pointed out.

"It'll be a lot of amendments. Did you guys have any like, van rules?"

"Course we did, four of us, one van."

"Four people in a van?"

"A revolving door of people, usually me, Gar, and Todd. Lance sometimes but not always. Other mutants, Spike, my mom sometimes-"

"Your mom lived in the van with you?"

"Yeah for like a night, I gave her the good bench and she took my fruit loops."

"That sucks."

"It wasn't super surprising," Kurt admitted.

"Still sucks, what do you want for dinner?" Kurt was a little surprised by that.

"Ah well, I'll find something." Ned gave Peter a look and Peter sighed.

"You're one of us now, and we eat together. We have a money pool for food and we buy our shared groceries and splurges from it."

"Oh, cool." Kurt searched his pockets and pulled out a scrappy wallet, doing simple math in his head. If he held back some of this he would have just enough to cover his quarter of rent and bills and add sufficiently to the food pool. He offered them a handful of worn bills. Peter took the money, not bothering to count it.

"I'll tell Gar about it tomorrow, best to let him sleep now since he's got work in the morning."

"I have my second interview tomorrow," Peter remembered with a groan.

"I mostly freelance, so I don't know what I'm doing or where I'll be tomorrow. Happy to give you a ride to the interview in my van," Kurt offered.

"Thanks but it's a short walk, and walking calms my nerves. So, dinner?"

"I don't feel like cooking and we're low on groceries, we could go out," Ned suggested.

"Okay, but someone has to go grocery shopping tomorrow because we can't just have pizza and go out whenever we feel like it." They argued like they'd been friends for a very long time. Kurt had that with some people, but none of his roommates. He and Rogue, his honorary sister, argued like that. His arguments with Mystique weren't usually as loving as these ones, she could be a pain sometimes. But part of having a home meant having a family, and maybe this was it. Maybe this was his band of brothers, instead of just another revolving door.

"I have work to do after dinner," Ned said cheerfully after they'd found a quick place to eat.

"Cool, cool, building the future." Peter sounded a little jealous but didn't comment, instead turning to Kurt, "What is it that you do?"

"I'm a performer. I act, work as a stunt double, sometimes it's just street corner mumbo jumbo, other times it's a little more pulled together. I promise I can make rent though, I'll sell the van if I have to-"

Ned cut him off, "Hey, there are four people living in an apartment that two people were managing to pay for, it's okay if you're a little short." Kurt smiled at the gesture, but it bothered him. He didn't want to be a little short on cash. He wanted to contribute to the food pool and make rent and not have to live on the streets again. He hadn't even told his foster parents that he lived in a van. He didn't want to ever have to tell them that.

"Work always comes," Kurt promised. Peter was staring at him.

"Do I have something in my teeth?" Kurt asked.

"No it's just, you're so confident about that. That work always comes. I've been trying to get a better job for months now."

"What's your current job?"

"I tutor high school kids. It comes and goes."

"Yeah, life's like that," Kurt agreed. Peter let out an exasperated mutter.

"What?"

"I want life to be better than that."

"Then… Make it better," Kurt suggested, munching on a french fry.

"Easier said than done…"


	5. Confidence and Conviction

**Just checking in to say that I want sushi right now. And also Panda Express. That has nothing to do with this chapter :D**

* * *

Chapter 5- Peter

He didn't mind having roommates. Well, more roommates. Ned had never been a problem because it was like a long but respectful sleepover with his best friend. But with Kurt and Gar, it was more like the two kids you were forced to invite to your sleepover. Part of him resented them. Maybe things weren't perfect for them, but they lived so casually like they were perfect. Kurt must have been one heck of an actor, to still have a smile and a spring in his step, and Gar was nearly the same. They would probably breeze into this interview without worry and have that job in the bag. Peter could hardly breathe.

He walked there in his second nicest interview outfit, rehearsing nice things to say about himself that he didn't believe. He felt like a fraud, like the emperor with no clothes. He kept running through his lines, it sounded whiny in his head, like a little kid begging for a seat at the big kids' table. A seat that he wasn't grown up enough to deserve.

He walked past the building. Not to bail on the interview, but to walk a little longer before he had to pull himself together.

"I'm just going to wing it and be myself!" He muttered, getting a few looks like he was a crazy person. He went to shove his hands into his jacket pockets and realized that he was wearing respectable clothes and not a jacket. Shoot. A jacket would be very comforting right now. Well, time to face the music! He turned around, smoothed back his hair, and walked into the interview, ready to wow them!

He was a mumbling wreck. He answered their questions the best that he could, but he still felt out of place and undeserving, and they saw it too.

"I'm sorry Mr. Parker, your resume was very promising and we were hoping that the first interview was just an off day, which is why we asked you back. But you seem to lack the confidence and conviction we would need from you here. Best of luck of course on your job search. We're sure a bright young man like you will find the place where you belong."

"That's the plan," Peter mumbled weakly, standing up and gathering his things. What would Ned say? That he needed to believe in himself more? Or that he needed to find his happiness and accept whatever work came his way. But he was jealous of Ned! Ned had his happiness and was paid to be happy. Ned brought work home and was happy all of the time! Peter didn't have that, when he brought work home it was someone's actual homework. He wanted to scream that it wasn't fair or cause a scene. Instead, he took a deep breath and walked out of the building and back home.

Kurt was home, buzzing around and cleaning the apartment.

"Do you work today?" Peter asked bitterly.

"Yeah, I'm doing this," Kurt gestured around.

"You doing anything to get paid today?" Peter asked, rather irritated but not at Kurt.

"Yes, I have play practice tonight and I get paid to build, paint, and put sets up."

"Oh, wow. And you're also in the play?" His irritation was melting away into a tired curiosity.

"Yes, I'm playing Hamlet in Hamlet. I work a lot with that theatre and they thought my accent would add character. Plus I worked my way up in the hierarchy to get better roles."

"There's a hierarchy in theatre?"

"Yes, a rather large one."

"Huh. That's pretty cool though, that you're the star of such a famous play."

"I'm really excited," Kurt gushed.

"You'll have to hook me up with tickets if you get any."

"Absolutely," Kurt promised. He hadn't stopped moving for the entire conversation, though Peter had slumped onto the couch.

"The interview was a dud. Apparently, I lack confidence and conviction. Can you imagine? I went toe to toe with Thanos and yet I lack confidence and conviction!"

"Maybe you do," Kurt said, popping next to him suddenly. Peter glowered at him.

"Hear me out, your confidence is abundant as Spiderman but doesn't show up as much as Peter. It's a little like Spiderman is an act. But that's still you, that's still your confidence. I don't go around normally ranting about murdering my uncle, but I can still learn how to be certain of myself the way Hamlet is. You just have to work on transmitting that same confidence when you're out of character." Kurt leaned back on the couch, looking rather proud of his sage advice. But Peter was still looking at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah, fine, I'll look into it."

"And you've got to have some more fun, life is worth living. Stressing isn't going to help you get your confidence back. You need to hang loose."

"You sound like a stoner." Kurt laughed.

"I'd get nothing done if I were a stoner. So, if I'm up to speed, we have a few hours before the boys come back. I think Operation Have Some Fun Before You Die can start now."

"That sounds familiar."

"Have some fun before you die is one of Simply Nailogical's taglines."

"The nail art channel? You watch that?"

"She doesn't really make nail art anymore," Kurt replied thoughtfully.

"Okay."

"Let's get you into some comfier clothes and find some food."

"Not really hungry."

"Listen I can only take that bull from one person and Gar already called it, so let's go to your favorite place in the city. We'll do whatever you want."

"I don't want to do anything…" Peter groaned, rubbing his face.

"Maybe not, but confident Peter doesn't sit inside and mope, I know that for sure."

"Alright, let's go find confident Peter then," Peter conceded with a sigh, going to go slip into a jacket, wondering how Kurt could possibly salvage a day like today. Wondering if confident Peter was even out there to be found.


	6. Junkfood Vegan

**I googled the birthdays of most of the boys and used the bullcrapped date that I made up for Gar in Common Mistakes. I am in no way telling you to read Common Mistakes ;) I am in no way telling you to read and review all of my stories ;)**

* * *

Chapter 6-Gar

"You smell like animals," Ned observed as they met up, having agreed to go grocery shopping together with the food pool so that Gar could get vegetarian options.

"I work at an animal shelter, so that would only make sense."

"Is that why you're vegetarian?"

"Nah, I'm vegetarian and I work at an animal shelter because of my shapeshifting."

"Huh. We're going to have to talk about this more when we get home, this is really interesting." Gar couldn't help it, every time one of them said the word home his mouth quirked upwards. Ned definitely noticed.

"So, what are you in school for?" Ned asked.

"Zoology."

"That makes sense too! I guess you probably have a scholarship?"

"I lucked into a really nice ACT score so I have a full ride." Ned offered him a high five.

"I could've guessed you were smart." Gar blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm not…" Most people in his life didn't see him as smart, he'd always been the younger one, the goofball. Not smart, Robin and Cyborg were smart. He was just the comedic relief, right?

"Don't discredit yourself," Ned advised.

"Well, you're smart too, you work with robots."

"AI."

"See? That's so cool. You're probably a tech genius."

"Everyone's smart in their own way, even Tucker."

"Who's Tucker?"

"Guy at my work who buys me lunch so I'll do parts of his projects. I don't mind doing it, I just have this theory that he's really smart somewhere."

"You really think that everyone is smart?"

"Yeah, definitely. I know that I can't always read a room or do the right thing socially, but I understand computers. Everyone has a balance of highs and lows. Even you, even Tucker. Everyone has potential, they just need to land on their passion."

"You sound like a self-help book," Gar joked with a smile.

"Maybe I'll write one someday."

"I'd buy it."

"I'm glad you guys moved in with us," Ned said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think Peter needed it. He's off with Kurt right now, apparently getting cheered up after his failed interview."

"Kurt has play rehearsal tonight so he better not get lost."

"Peter knows every road in this city, no one's getting lost," Ned assured.

"It's a shame about the interview though."

"It's not his passion. I keep telling him that he needs to figure out his passion. I think that it's heroics if there's something more that makes him happy he needs to open up about it so that people can help him!"

"Look I get it. Sucks to see your team hurting." Gar had been there. He had the Titans to worry about, although they were all off living their own lives, Cyborg with his family, Starfire and Robin together as heroes, and Raven… He didn't actually know where Raven was. Somewhere. Now he had his new super duo, Beast Boy and Nightcrawler, saving the city. As much as he joked about not caring about Kurt, the fuzzy blue freak had taken him in when he'd been homesick and out of place. Kurt was family now. Kurt was his team like Peter was Ned's team.

"It's not just me though, there are a lot of people who don't want to see Peter hurting right now, his aunt, his girlfriend, this whole support network that he just ignores."

"Hey, count us in. Me and Kurt, Kurt's already started but we'll do whatever for him. Boys support boys. Peter doesn't have to hurt alone, I promise. You two took us in? You're family now."

"Boys support boys," Ned echoed with a grin, "I feel the same. I'm looking forward to getting to know you two. "

"Happy to talk your ear off, ask away."

"When's your birthday?"

"April 12."

"So you're an Aries," Ned commented.

"You just know that off the top of your head?"

"Yeah, my sister is super into horoscopes. I'm a Scorpio and Peter's a Leo."

"Kurt is a Scorpio as well."

"I don't think there's anything behind it, but they're fun to read. Like fortune cookies."

"You know, the fortune doesn't come true if you don't eat the fortune," Gar said cheekily.

"Didn't know that, I'll keep it in mind." They shopped as they talked, each keeping in mind what the other selected in case shopping alone was ever required.

"Is tofu actually good?"

"Some people will never come around," Gar said, thinking of Raven, "but I've always liked it. It's a good substitute. It's certainly more cost-effective than the fancier vegetarian options." Cost-effective was a big deal when you were homeless but still had a moral high ground. He'd eaten a lot of questionable cost-effective cuisine. He'd gone without just as often, to the point where skipping a meal felt like second nature. Maybe the food pool was a safety net so that didn't have to happen anymore, but he'd always preferred being hungry to someone else on his "team" going without. Family was more important. He'd spent his whole life holding onto families that eventually grew up and apart, or simply vanished. His parents were gone, Nicholas Galtry couldn't reach him anymore, the Titans were off living their own lives, and now he had this little band of brothers. He meant what he'd said when he'd said that he would do anything for them.

"Maybe you can make us some for dinner one night."

"Sure, no problem. I have to admit it's been a while since I did any actual cooking. Lately, I've been a bit of a junk food vegan."

"What's that?"

"Someone who claims to be vegan, or in my case vegetarian, but only eats junk food. Junk food is just cheaper and more accessible. It's usually either junk food or the salad bar in the caf."

"Dude, the caf is terrible," Ned pointed out.

"No, it's not so bad." Gar didn't elaborate, but the caf was better than nothing. The caf was better than yet another pack of Doritos. The caf was a necessary evil.

"If you say so. So, the million-dollar question, did you blip or did you live through it?

"I lived through the blip. The Titans operated in the midst of the chaos. We tried to fill in where the avengers fell short. Kurt was blipped though."

"Wow… You and I have lived entirely different lives, then. I can't imagine what life after the blip was like."

"I was twelve when it happened, I wasn't even a Titan yet, I was barely myself yet. But the blip kind of saved my life."

"How?"

"That's a long story, Ned."

"Well, let's get this food home, and then, if you're okay with it, we can have storytime."


	7. Blip Backstory

**I wanted to balance seriousness and lightness in this story. Anyways, here we are.**

* * *

Chapter 7- Ned

They unpacked their bundle of groceries and settled down on the couch, each equipped with a glass of lemonade.

"So, tell me how the blip saved you." Gar took a deep breath, getting ready to jump into a long story.

"Well, my parents died before the blip, a little bit after I became Beast Boy, and I was put in custody of my godfather, Nicholas Galtry. Which ended up being the worst possible outcome. Nicholas loathed me, he treated me like dirt and used me for my powers. He kept me locked up when he wasn't using me, he called me a freak and said that people couldn't look at me, that it would be better if I was dead. He made me steal little things for him, threatened to sell me to the circus if I didn't. He would hit me and tell me that this is what my parents would have wanted. And I believed him. I believed that it was my fault and that I didn't have any choice in the matter. I didn't think I could ever escape him…" Gar paused, taking in air like he was drowning in the story. Ned could tell that this wasn't an easy tale to tell, but he didn't interrupt.

"So I used my powers to do terrible things for Nicholas. Stealing things and destroying things. I guess my worlds blurred together, I was angry and scared all of the time. I didn't care who got hurt in my path of destruction, and then, one day, he was in the middle of going off on me when the weirdest thing happened. One minute he was screaming at me, the next minute he was turning to ash. I was horrified. It didn't matter what he'd done to me, he was all I had. I'd been hidden from the world, poisoned into thinking that I couldn't be accepted. I'd just lost everything. I stayed put for a day or two, waiting for things to go back to the way they were. But they didn't. So then I ran. I started robbing convenience stores. I took what I needed. Sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I just took what I wanted. It was the high life, sort of, running scared, blaming myself for the loss of the only person I trusted, doing the only thing he taught me." Ned listened intently, amazed at what life after the blip was like for his shapeshifting friend.

"And I got caught, by the Titans. I'd been on my own for a year when they found me, and I put up an awful struggle, but they were stronger. I thought it was the end. That I was about to go to prison or the circus or some laboratory where I'd be an experiment. Instead, they took me in and I found out what family was supposed to be like. I learned that being human was less about how you look and more about what you feel. I was able to undo my wrongs. I'm not religious like Kurt, but I think I was forgiven when I found the Titans. And I know I was changed." Gar appeared to be done with his story now, letting out a yawn and a tired sigh leaning back into the sofa.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Ned said quietly.

"Well, everyone goes through things."

"Yeah, but not everyone goes through that. And I have the feeling that you've been through more than that. I have a thousand questions, but right now I'll let you rest. I have work to do anyway."

"You bring your work home?" Gar asked.

"That I do." Gar's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"I should do that…"

"Don't you work at the shelter?" Ned asked, then he noticed Gar's scheming look.

"Ohhh. Maybe you should bring your work home. Peter really likes dogs."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ned left Gar in the living room and went into his room where he'd thrown together a little desk set up to work with the new restricted space. He cracked his knuckles, plugged in his noise-canceling headphones, and then put the USB into the port on his laptop.

"Welcome home, Preston." Even though the AI was the labor of a lot of love and not his project alone, Ned had still secretly given his subset a name. He gave the clock a glance and began prodding through the digital DNA, trying to bring Preston to life, like his own little Frankenstein. Well, Frankenstein's Monster. Hopefully, Preston wouldn't be a monster though...

"Let's give you a voice, Preston." That was his job, to get the complex system they had collaborated on talking. He was so excited to get into it. Excited to break down the code and get into something that actually learned and thought and spoke. If he hadn't needed to focus he would have put on Big Hero 6 because that was another piece of pop culture that made him feel cool as an AI developer. That and Be More Chill made him feel like he was really a part of the future.

As he worked he talked to Preston, the way one would talk to a baby who was just learning how to talk. He didn't hear Gar knocking, but he did smell the savory scent of dinner right before his new friend snuck up on him.

"Made tofu stir fry for dinner, brought you a bowl." Ned gratefully took the bowl.

"Are the others back yet?"

"Peter came home and is eating on that slab of cement that qualifies as a balcony and talking to Michelle on Skype."

"And Kurt?" 

"Rehearsal. He's in Hamlet, as Hamlet."

"That's cool."

"I'm going out later, superhero stuff, so don't wait up."

"Don't worry about that, I'll be grinding away at this all night."

"Goodnight then."

"Goodnight, thanks for the food!" He ate as he worked, really getting into the project. It was late when he managed to get the scratchy semblance of a voice. More than satisfied he sat his laptop to the side, pulled his headphones off, and went to bed. But he could still hear the early stages of the synthetic voice as he drifted off to sleep.


	8. Keep moving

**I love Kurt he's definitely the best part of this story so far. Drop a comment of who you want to show up in the story next. **

* * *

Chapter 8- Kurt

Kurt and Peter had gotten food and wandered around for a bit, and then they got a rug for the apartment and some other things. Of course, Kurt had to run to rehearsal basically immediately, but he'd given Peter some pretty clear instructions.

"Don't unroll the rug."

"I wouldn't dare." By that point in the day, Peter was laughing a little and seemed to be in a better state. But Kurt was still worried about him.

"You good to go home alone?"

"Oh yeah, I'll just call my girlfriend. Won't even remember the confidence and conviction I lack."

"Don't talk about yourself like that. Confident Peter is in there."

"I didn't even make the first move with my girlfriend, dude."

"And I don't even have a girlfriend!" Kurt said, walking towards the theatre.

"I find that very hard to believe!" Peter called back.

"Call me later, something fun is going down after rehearsal," Kurt added hastily, ready to sprint there.

"Got it!" Kurt laughed as he ran, thinking about how Peter found it hard to believe that he didn't have a girlfriend. He dated around, tested the waters. But he hadn't found a soulmate yet, and that was really what he was looking for.

He spent an hour in the theatre alone working on the sets. He didn't mind being alone if he had something to do. And if you looked hard enough there was always something to do. Sometimes he filled the silence with music or videos, but he liked the quiet as well. Not everyone could deal with silence, the way he couldn't really deal with stillness. But the silence was as still as he could get. And it was nice. Then he heard voices approaching and he made sure his image inducer was turned on, though most of his theatre troupe knew he was a mutant. It was still better not to poke the bear. Gar didn't really let anyone see him as Beast Boy, except when he was doing heroics. That's what they were going to do after rehearsal. Hit the town, save the day. Maybe Gar would save him leftovers from dinner in some little dollar tree Tupperware.

"Hey, Kurt, you're an actor, right?" The stage manager asked.

"Yes sir, you cast me as Hamlet."

"Right, right. Do you think you could act like a babysitter for five hours tomorrow? I'll pay you."

"Sure!" Kurt jumped on the offer. He'd watched younger mutants back home, so this should be cake.

"20 an hour sound fair?" Kurt gaped at him.

"20?" That was more than fair. That was a hundred dollars he could throw into the food pool.

"You're right… I have three little monsters, 20 each."

"Deal!" Kurt agreed with a handshake.

"Okay listen, show up at 12, I'll get a pizza for you guys, stay until 5. The oldest is Jackie she's 12, and then there's Monster Max, he's 10, and then there's little Becca who is 5."

"Got it."

"I'll text you the rest of the details but right now we need a Hamlet. Get ready to perform son!" Kurt rushed off to join the other actors, glowing with pride at his newly secured job.

He was proud to tell his friends about the new job too, as he gobbled down lukewarm leftovers that Gar had brought him and prepared to save the city.

"This is really good, Gar." He was glad Gar had eaten today, even happier that Gar had gotten to flex his cooking skills since he usually ate garbage or nothing. Getting to cook up something delicious and healthy and totally vegetarian was one of those little dreams he knew Gar had. He'd lived out one of his own little dreams earlier when he'd gotten to clean his apartment. He'd always kept the van tidy, but being able to keep busy cleaning the apartment had secretly delighted him. His next goal was to do a load of laundry. Maybe before babysitting tomorrow. He finished the stirfry and tucked the Tupperware away in his jacket. They couldn't throw away what had been their only dishes when they were living in the van.

"Are you ready for night patrol?" Gar asked, looking around between the three of them.

"Yeah, this might be just what I needed," Peter admitted.

"Ready to find confident Peter?" Kurt joked.

"Yeah, I think he's over here. Let's see who needs saving."

"What am I missing, guys? What's this confident Peter thing about?"

"I bombed that stupid interview, Kurt says I need to find my confident side. And, apparently, my confident side wears a mask." Peter pulled the spider mask over his face and took to the skies with his web shooters.

"I guess confident Peter's taking the lead! Let's go!" Kurt hopped through the city, teleporting here and there, and Gar flew as a lovely little pigeon. This was just as good as his time alone cleaning the apartment or working on sets. He felt alive when he was moving. That's why he got up early and didn't stop doing stuff unless he had to. He knew that he lived with a brood of hard workers, and he admired his roommates' ability to turn that off sometimes and just relax. But he couldn't. He lived when he moved. There was a sense of claustrophobia if he wasn't doing something. If he was sitting still and seemed at ease, it was an act. At least he was getting good at acting.

"So you have this babysitting gig tomorrow?" Gar asked, no longer in pigeon mode.

"Yeah! I'm really excited about it. The stage manager was really desperate, he's paying me 300 and a free lunch for this."

"If he's really desperate about this, don't you worry that the kids will be nightmares?"

"They can't be any worse than some mutant kids I've sat for," Kurt pointed out.

"I guess. Good luck dude!"

"Hey, quit gabbing, there's a robbery!" Peter yelled, and they headed down to be heroes. Kurt couldn't help but smile as he and the boys took care of some robbers. This was what he lived for.


	9. Paint fumes

**Why'd it take me so long to write this? I dunno. I'd love a review, just one, just so I have it. No pressure. Far From Home spoilers are definitely happening at this point if they weren't before. It's almost midnight and I don't remember.**

* * *

Chapter 9- Peter

Peter was in a weird headspace. Maybe it was the paint fumes since he'd gotten roped into painting the unused picture frames Kurt had picked out. But more likely it was the wave of unsettling emotions that had crashed over him ever since he failed that job interview.

He had a million questions, none of which could be answered by the picture frames or the paint shades. What was the next opportunity that would come his way? Had he already let an opportunity slip? Was he good enough? Would he ever be? Could he live up to the shadow he stood under? Did he even want to?

That was one of the biggest nagging questions. How he was going to live up to Tony. He thought the answer would be clearer with Edith, which made it pretty clear that he had big shades to fill. But Tony already had a legacy. He had a brilliant little girl who could and should be the next one to wear the suit. Every time he was with Pepper and Morgan, and he was a frequent guest, he knew that one day Edith should be hers. He'd consulted Happy about it, as well as Aunt May, and of course, most importantly, Pepper. But until Morgan was a little older, that shadow was his to live up to.

And it wasn't even the only shadow. His uncle had been a great man who had taught him many things. And his father… He'd never really gotten to know his father, but he knew that he was responsible for representing his family.

Maybe it was the paint fumes. Why else would his eyes be stinging with tears? He finished up the last frame and went into the kitchen to see if there were any leftovers of the tofu stir fry, but his search was interrupted by a knock at the door. He dropped the fridge handle and jogged over to the door, forcing a smile.

"Were you crying?" MJ asked, looking a little concerned.

"It was paint fumes. You are officially dating a painter!"

"I'm officially dating an unemployed college student," Michelle pointed out, and his fake smile dropped.

"I'm not technically unemployed I still have the tutoring thing."

"I'm sure that's booming in the middle of summer."

"I'm working on the whole not working thing, I promise."

"I came to help you."'

"Really?"

"No, I'd rather just watch my boyfriend suffer."

"That does sound more like you," He teased.

"That's accurate," she laughed, punching him in the arm a little.

"Oh, ouch," he laughed, pretending his shoulder hurt from her punch even though he'd obviously endured much worse.

"Have you eaten?"

"You sound like Aunt May or Ned," he joked.

"I'm serious."

"I was about to see if there was any leftover tofu stir fry from last night."

"You eat tofu now?"

"If it's in the food pool I do. Gar's a vegetarian and he cooked last night. No one asked him to cook for everyone but it was pretty good."

"Are there any leftovers?" MJ asked, and Peter dug through the fridge.

"Ah, no, Kurt must have gotten the last of it."

"I'll buy lunch and then we can find you a job."

"Yesssss." He wrapped her in a hug.

"I haven't seen you this excited in forever, is free food all that what you want out of life?"

"No, I also like girlfriend hugs." With that, she hugged back.

"Have you ever watched Mr. Kate?" He asked randomly.

"I've heard of it."

"Kurt and Gar went on and on about it when they were redecorating their room."

"I want to meet those two," MJ mentioned.

"Maybe we'll set up a game night or a dinner or something so you can meet them. They're obviously at work right now."

"Yeah, let's go find you some work, too."

"Are you going to break up with me if I don't get a real person job?"

"Hm, I'm not sure. I mean, Brad has a job." His face dropped into a pout and he wrapped her in a hug again.

"Please don't leave me for Brad! Don't make me airstrike him again!" MJ laughed and shoved him a little.

"I'm grounding you from airstrikes."

"Aw, no fair."

"You can have them back when you get a real person job," she promised, kissing his cheek.

"Oh good, I was afraid you were never going to let me airstrike anyone ever again." She always made him smile more than anything else did. More than saving the day did, more than churros, more than memes. He slipped his hand into hers and swung their arms, wondering, as he always did when he walked with her, what happened next. He wanted to marry her, they'd been together for four years now, he wanted to get down on one knee right now. But he still felt like a scared little kid who wasn't good enough for her. Maybe he'd hold his tongue until things fell apart. Or maybe Michelle would once again be the first one to make a move. He squeezed her hand and she smiled back at him.

"Today's going to be a good day," she told him. Even though she didn't tend to have the most positive outlook, that was the kind of thing Peter needed to hear. Someone had to be his support system. Someone had to fill his head with sap.

"You really believe that?" He asked, glancing at her.

She pondered her options.

"Maybe. I'm with you. That helps." He burst out laughing.

"You're so dorky."

"I'm the dorky one? Do you really want to go there, Peter Parker?"

"You got me," he laughed. She stopped suddenly, getting a look in her eyes.

"Peter, have you talked to Pepper about a job at Stark Industries?" He looked sheepish.

"I don't want to be annoying."

"Annoying? Peter people care about you and want to help you. If a job exists there that could actually make you happy, you should pursue it." He was surprised by that. Had he really seemed that unhappy to MJ? He'd been trying to hide that aspect about himself. He was willing to try anything to make MJ a little happier. Almost anything.

"...I do have some ideas."

"Let's get lunch and set up a meeting with Pepper."

"Okay…" He leaned over and kissed her cheek, so grateful for her.


	10. Buddy

**Welcome back to my fanfiction. I researched dog breeds for way too long and I'm definitely going to do the same thing about catholicism. Anyway. **

* * *

Chapter 10- Gar

He knew exactly which dog was coming home with him at the end of the day, but not what he was going to name him. He had filled out most of the paperwork for the three-legged blue Italian greyhound, a beautiful, chill, and loving doggo. Only the name slot remained, and he'd run through a billion different options in his mind, landing on none. This is why someone else had come up with his superhero identity. The name Beast Boy had been Cyborg's idea. He thought about texting Cy now for name suggestions but decided last minute to text Kurt, who would be one of the people living with the dog.

G: What should I name him?

K: Max suggested Buddy

G: Buddy Logan is coming home then.

The kid Kurt was babysitting for was a genius. Buddy was a good name for the friendly, loyal dog. He looked at the pup who was obviously eager to be named.

"Hey, Buddy…" The dog seemed to get excited like he was commending the name choice. Satisfied, he filled out the last line and went to get Buddy an official collar. The rich purple collar that he picked out complimented Buddy's bluish-gray fur and would match their room's color scheme as well. The dog bed they had was an inoffensive tan color. It was nice to know that his new dog fit well with his family and his decor.

Once he had started, he didn't really want to stop spending money on the dog. He got off work at four and had an hour before Kurt had agreed to swing by and pick him up in the van. So he took Buddy to a nearby pet store, roaming the aisles for the proper pet food and toys. Gar was, of course, vegetarian, but Buddy was not and he wouldn't force his dog into that lifestyle. He did draw the line at getting meat themed toys, though. That was a bit too much for him. Instead, he found Buddy some playthings that didn't resemble anything real or alive. He budgeted in his head but splurged a bit, and at five he and Buddy left the store with a bountiful haul to meet Kurt.

"He's so cute!" Kurt gushed as Buddy immediately took a liking to the fellow furry friend. The feeling was mutual.

"I'm excited to see the look on Ned and Peter's faces. Ned knows that I'm doing this and gave me the go-ahead, but Peter is going to be completely surprised."

"I, for one, am excited to see Peter's paint job. I left him with the frames and the paint we picked out." Gar laughed.

"That's definitely not more exciting than this little guy."

"What? It'll tie our room together. Plus we can put up a picture of Buddy."

"That is exciting," Gar admitted, "we should also get a group shot."

"Definitely! Our room's gonna end up looking amazing. Also, we have to do the rug cuddle." Gar burst out laughing and nodded, willing to recreate the cheesiest part of Mr. Kate's videos with Kurt. After all, because of the Blip, he'd been a loyal subscriber for basically as long as Kurt. They were both pretty big nerds.

"Do you think Peter has a camera? Or Ned? " Kurt asked, planning out the decor.

"Probably one of them. But we could use our phones if they don't."

"I'm going to put most of the babysitting money towards rent and the food pool, but I'm going to buy some books as well," Kurt said with a smile. Now that they had their own space they were doing their best to fill it. Peter and Ned had offered a couple of books, clothes, and trinkets to help consolidate their own shared space and fill Kurt and Gar's room. Some things had made it into the room, others were donated.

Most of the clothes donations had readily been accepted and divided. Gar and Kurt had their own styles of course, but they both usually went with whatever was cheap. Gar bought packs of shirts in bulk and tended to alternate between three or four colors at random, sometimes tossing a jacket or something on top. Kurt salvaged most of his shirts from Goodwill, usually graphic tees with stupid sayings, jeans, and a jacket, usually red. His style was similar to Peter's but Peter's nerdy t-shirts were more deliberate than whatever Kurt could scrounge up. Kurt got most of Peter's donated shirts, Gar got a couple jackets, and they split what they could wear of Ned's slightly dressier clothes, including two excellent fedoras, one each.

They pulled up to the apartment, pup in tow. Buddy was excited and delighted when they got inside and Gar unclipped his leash, bestowing puppy kisses on Gar and Kurt.

"Come on Buddy!" Gar encouraged, taking him to their room and introducing him to his doggy bed and new toys, and inaugurating the rug with a rug cuddle between the three of them. Then they played with Buddy in the living room, waiting for their roommates to meet the surprise. Buddy was a pretty quick learner, fetching toys with ease despite having one less leg than most of his furry companions. He was playful and cuddly and he already loved everyone he'd met. The name Buddy would prove to be very fitting.

Ned was the first one home, and even though he seemed to have had a rough day at work, he immediately dropped to his knees and fell in love with their new roommate.

"This is exactly what I needed today," Ned admitted.

"His name is Buddy and he's a little genius superstar. Think Peter is going to like him?"

"Peter is going to love him."

"What am I going to love?" Peter asked from the doorway.


	11. Demoted

**I'm back! On a note so very unrelated to anything, I now own an official Gus and Eddy podcast shirt with Boys Support Boys on it. So now I have youtube merch and a subtle plug to this fanfic, lol.**

* * *

Chapter 11- Ned

Ned wasn't used to not knowing what was going on at work. He'd always believed that he was doing important work and was secure in his job. So it was a bit of a shock when he got called into the boss's office. Probably she just wanted to see about his progress. He'd coaxed a voice out of the AI, so maybe this was about a promotion. Maybe he would get more responsibility. He wasn't worried until he got there.

"Mr. Leeds, please sit down." His boss, Veronica Hammer said with a grimace.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked, trying to figure out his error.

"In a way. You've far exceeded our expectations since you got here, putting in hours beyond what was asked of you."

"And that's a bad thing?" Ned asked, feeling nervous and confused.

"In many ways, it's good that you're willing to go above and beyond for your company Unfortunately it reflects poorly on your coworkers that you're putting in 110%. It's opened our eyes to the less effective members of our team though, so many thanks for that. If you could agree to only do your share from now on, and to not take work home, then things will work out between us, and we could even see you being promoted in the near future."

"O-okay." Ned still felt unsure and uncomfortable.

"One other thing Mr. Leeds, we're removing you from the AI project. You'll be briefed in a little while about what your next project will be and who will be taking your place on the AI project." Ned walked out of the office heartbroken. It wasn't fair, he had given his all to the AI project, he thought he was going to have his name on something that was going to change the world and now he was being tossed aside like he hadn't helped make leaps and strides towards technological progress. Plus, he had started getting attached to Preston. He had wanted to see this through and now he couldn't.

"Hey, Ned, how did the meeting go?" Tucker asked as Ned began to organize his desk because he honestly had nothing else to do.

"Not great, uh, you don't have to buy me lunch anymore… I don't think I'm allowed to help you with your projects. I'm not on the AI project anymore.

"What? You did great work, it's ludicrous to displace you from that project." Tucker's face contorted into a frown, really looking like he was about to fight someone over this decision.

"Yeah, it stings a little because they didn't say anything about my performance being worth the demotion, she was really positive about my work, actually. She even said I might be promoted soon. But she yanked the AI project away from me at the very end and… It just feels wrong."

"It is wrong! I should talk to her!"

"If you talk to her you're going to out yourself as a slacker, and you could get fired."

"Okay, if I can't talk to her, then I'm going to do some digging on my own. Let's take a lunch break tomorrow and try to figure out what's going on. I know weird stuff goes on here sometimes, I just never had a reason to question it before."

"Because I do your work?" Ned asked. Tucker looked surprised.

"No, because you're my friend." Ned smiled at Tucker.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me. And that's a good plan. Tomorrow we'll figure out what's going on. And tomorrow I'll buy your lunch."

"Deal, Mr. Leeds."

"I think at this point you can call me Ned."

"Deal, Ned."

So it wasn't a great day. Ned wasn't going to give up on this, but for now, he was confused and a little bit sentimental. He didn't know what he was going to tell his roommates when he got home, he'd always had so much pride for his work and now he hardly knew what his job was supposed to be. Fortunately, they had just the distraction when he got home, an adorable fifth roommate who was full of energy and pluck. Ned dropped to the floor and hugged him tightly as Buddy licked his face.

"This is the best dog I've ever seen, Peter is going to love him."

"What am I going to love?" Peter said from the doorway, before seeing the dog. Ned let go and let Buddy attack Peter with kisses.

"He's so precious!" Peter said, looking excited and happy. Ned was just as excited, but he couldn't fully distract himself from what happened at work. He still had a bit of a headache from the whole ordeal.

"I know right? Gar brought him home."

"We should take him to the park," Peter decided, and for the rest of the evening, Buddy dictated their choices. Peter told them about MJ's idea to get him a job and Kurt told them about babysitting, but when Gar asked about Ned's day he couldn't bring himself to tell them what had happened. Not, he decided, until he got more answers about what was going on. Tomorrow. Though he had previously never counted on Tucker for anything other than sandwich orders, he'd meant what he said when he said that he believed that Tucker was smart. He just didn't know what Tucker was smart in, yet.

Hopefully, come morning, things would be better. His headache would subside and some clarity would be provided. But he still sat down at his makeshift desk to do some work before remembering. After half an hour of despondent internet scrolling, he was about to turn the power off and turn in for an early night, but something stopped him. He still had Preston's file. He'd turned in his USBs of work, but the file still lingered in his computer.

"I should delete this…" Ned muttered to himself.

"Then again, they might need a backup." With that justification, he shut his laptop and went to bed.


	12. Babysitters Club

**Tell me one thing in the comments. Anything. Truly, anything.**

* * *

Chapter 12- Kurt

Kurt was used to babysitting, and he was used to crazy. He honestly didn't expect his stage manager's kids to be any worse than the mutants he used to babysit. And then he had blipped, and when he came back a lot of those kids had grown up, and other than a select few who had blipped too, he didn't really have a group anymore. So he headed to New York to make it on his own as an actor, with limited and vague success and nearly four years of living in a van.

Unless you were one of the mutants who had also tried to make it New York in the back of Kurt's van, like Todd, Pietro, Spike, and Lance, then it was very likely you didn't know about Kurt's homelessness. But that was all different now. Now he had a home. Now he had an overpaying babysitting job. He went over what the stage manager had told him. Jackie, 12, Max, 10, Becca, 5.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Kurt. Listen, my wife had to go out of town, and I have a lot of work to do. I'll be in my office most of the day unless I have to go out. If there's an emergency you can come get me, but just keep them relatively quiet and in order and entertained."

"Got it, sir."

"Kids! This is Kurt, he's one of daddy's actors and he'll be hanging out with you today, so be nice alright?"

"We're too old for a babysitter," Jackie complained.

"Yeah!" Max echoed.

"Oh, Mr. Underwood, do you mind?" Kurt mimicked turning off his image inducer.

"Uh, yeah, make yourself at home." With that, he hurried off and Kurt was left with three very disinterested children.

"Hi!" Okay, two disinterested children and one Becca.

"Hello, like your dad said, I'm Kurt, and I came to hang out with you."

"You were paid to hang out with us," Jackie pointed out.

"Your accent is weird," Max accused.

"It's German," Kurt said brightly, unfazed by the insults per usual.

"It's weird."

"Maybe a little."

"You work with daddy?" Becca asked excitedly.

"Sort of. I'm an actor in one of his plays."

"He doesn't have a real job," Jackie said snarkily.

"You're kind of right, I have several jobs. Right now it's my job to make sure you guys have a good day. But sometimes it's my job to paint and build sets, or be a stunt double for videos, or anything else that people need of me."

"That doesn't sound very stable," Jackie scoffed.

"Not always."

"Beats being so chained to your job that you never have time for anyone else," Max pointed out, glowering towards his dad's office. Kurt was beginning to pick up on family politics.

"Is there anything, in particular, you guys want to do?"

"You could leave us alone, that would be fun," Max suggested.

"Tea party!" Becca cheered, continuing to not read the room.

"Okay, a tea party sounds fun, Jackie, Max, would you like to join us?" Kurt's smile had never wavered, but he was clearly walking on eggshells.

"Why would we want to do that?" Max asked.

"Please Maxxie?" Becca begged.

"I said no!" Max snapped, causing Becca to begin to sniffle.

"Max, don't treat your sister like that!" Kurt said, turning strict to fit the mood. He was a naturally easygoing person, but he was also an actor.

"She's not my sister! She's my bloody replacement!" With that, Max stormed off to his room, slamming the door. Kurt looked at his watch. 12:15. If he didn't handle Monster Max now, this would be a very long day. Jackie began to comfort Becca, setting up for a tea party, and Kurt headed into the monster's lair.

"Hey, Max? Can I talk to you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're going to tell me the same crap as everyone else."

"Yeah, what does everyone else say?" Kurt asked through the door, "So that I know what not to say."

Max opened the door and beckoned him in.

"If you really care, which I doubt, then we can talk."

"I do care. I know what it's like to be replaced. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Me and Jackie blipped, and when we came back they'd already had Becca. They moved on without us. They replaced us."

"I get it. When I came back from the blip, a lot of my family had grown up, and others had been adopted into it."

"Others? Like, more than one kid?"

"Yeah. I sort of have a couple of families, like I have a couple of jobs. I have my birth mother, my adopted parents, my current roommates, and the X-men."

"You're an X-man?" Max's eyes grew wide.

"Former X-man."

"So you're a mutant?"

"Yep." Kurt flicked off his image inducer and Max gasped.

"Whoa!" After a moment of gawking, Max asked, "How'd you get over it?"

"Well, I moved out of the Xavier Academy. I moved here. But I kept in touch with my different families. If I had isolated myself because things had changed, I think I would have been pretty scared."

"So you're saying I should talk to my dad about it?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"I think he'd probably say the same thing mom and dad always say, that they love all of us equally."

"You don't buy it?"

"I'm sure they mean it, but they still moved on after we disappeared."

"Life keeps moving, Max. They didn't have Becca because they weren't still mourning you and Jackie. They had Becca because when you lose someone you care about, eventually you have to start living again."

"...I guess so."

"Becca is your little sister. You should make her part of your life instead of living like she stole your life."

"I'm not actually mad at Becca… It's just, dad is also so much busier now. He might have enough love for me, but he doesn't have enough time for me."

"You should talk to him about that too. But until then you should come hang out with the rest of your family. We can order a pizza."

"Okay, but I'm not joining the tea party."

"You don't have to."

"Good." After that, things went much easier, though Kurt did forget to turn his image inducer on.


End file.
